Inter coach Simone Inzaghi makes no secret of the fact that the criticism and rumours around his future are to be expected given the form that the team has been in.
Speaking in a press conference ahead of tomorrow evening’s Champions League quarterfinal second leg against Benfica, as reported by FCInterNews, the 47-year-old addressed rumours around his future and also looked ahead to tomorrow’s hugely important match.
Inzaghi and Inter face a massive turning point in the context of their season tomorrow.
If the team can keep hold of their advantage from the first leg of their quarterfinal tie against Benfica, they can book their place in the semifinals of Europe’s top club competition, dare to dream and get a badly-needed boost in confidence.
On the other hand, if the Nerazzurri were to throw away their two-goal advantage, it could be the straw that broke the camel’s back for a season that has been far too erratic from the team and from Inzaghi.
Of the rumours that without the Champions League semifinals he could be sacked, the coach stated plainly that “There’s nothing strange about it.”
“I’m used to it,” he added. “Better to criticize me and not the guys.”
“Criticism pushes us to work harder and harder,” he went on.
“It’s part of a coach’s career,” he added.
“We haven’t been good enough in the league,” the coach admitted. “We’ve slipped up, there are eight games left and we still have a margin to get back in it.”
“We have to keep the noise out and enjoy a massive evening tomorrow, and hopefully get into the final four in Europe,” Inzaghi stressed.
“We’ll have to do a good job of insulating ourselves from what’s happening around us,” was also the coach’s message regarding the uncertainty of several Inter players whose contracts run out at the end of the season.
“We have several players whose contracts are close to expiring, but I see them working well in training every day.”
“It’s part of football to be criticized, it’s part of football to have expiring contracts,” Inzaghi said.
“We have to do our best, keep cool heads, and focus on the next match.”
Looking to tomorrow’s match against Benfica, the 47-year-old said that “It’s the second half of a very important, and tricky tie in which we begin with an advantage.”
“We’ll all have to figure it out together, knowing that we could be one of the last four sides left in Europe, and that would be a massive achievement.”
Of the team’s slump in form over the last month, Inzaghi said that “We know what happened, it’s useless to talk about it.”
“We know about our run in the cup competitions, and the fact that we’re not where we wanted to in the league.”
“Now our focus is on Benfica, we have an advantage we can’t take anything for granted against a team who are behind in the result, but not in terms of chances created,” the coach went on.
“Against us and in the other two losses in the league they’ve played like the same old Benfica.”
“We’re coming into it off the back of a home loss in the league which pegged us back, but that’s in the past,” Inzaghi said.
“We need to be focused on Benfica, we know we have an advantage but it will still be a very difficult match,” he went on.
The coach noted that “We’ll all need to play a good match together, along with our fans, we need intensity.”
“Benfica have a lot of running in them, they cover the pitch well.”
“We’ll have to restrict them to make them less dangerous,” the coach said of the Portuguese league leaders, “I have to reiterate in their recent matches they’ve created a lot of chances.”
Asked if this run into the latter stages of the Champions League knockouts was something expected at the start of the season, Inzaghi said that “It was a hope for us to get to this point.”
“We’ve played against very strong teams but we’ve shown that we can play against them on equal terms.”
“As far as the form of the forwards goes, I’d say they just haven’t found the right situations,” Inzaghi said of Inter’s recent goal drought, “one good chance and everything can turn around for them and for Inter.”
Asked if he plans to make any changes compared to the first leg against Benfica, Inzaghi said that “I have some ideas, but from experience we know that you can’t always go with your first thought, I have two training sessions to go and they’ll help me make my decisions.”
Of the importance of the possession phase against this Benfica team, the Inter coach said that “We did very well in the first leg.”
“It will be important, just like the non-possession phase, because they have good coverage of the pitch and play well.”
Then, Inzaghi also responded to the comments by Oasis star Noel Gallagher, a prominent Manchester City fan who remarked that he hopes that if the Cityzens reach the final it is against Inter because he feels the Nerazzurri would be the easiest potential opposition.
“He’s a great musician,” Inzaghi said of Gallagher, “and let’s hope he’s also lucky, because it would make us very happy if we can get to the Champions League final.”